Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston (A&BC) announces the landmark purchase of the Western Avenue | Studios & Lofts (WASL) in Lowell, MA, ensuring that the 240,000 square foot complex remains a creative home for artists and small creative business owners. The $20 million purchase formally closed on March 1, 2022, and is the second building the organization has acquired as part of their Creative Campus initiative.

The WASL complex is one of the largest live/work artist communities in the country that was still privately owned. It comprises 240,000 square feet of space and includes 250 work-only artist studios, 50 live/work studios, a brewery, cafe, and gallery. Western Avenue hosts not only individual artists and their businesses, but also art markets and events, as well as a youth arts after-school program called Refuge. The entire Western Avenue community is an economic development engine and a cultural asset for Lowell and beyond. Arts & Business Council worked closely with former Western Avenue | Studios & Lofts owner Karl Frey to ensure the space remains consistent as the vibrant artist community they founded 15 years ago.

The purchase of Western Avenue | Studios & Lofts is a major step forward for the Arts & Business Council. Purchasing and preserving a permanent, safe, equitable, and affordable space for artists is part of a long-term, strategic approach to addressing issues of inequity and inequitable access to consistent and affordable capital to address space needs. In safeguarding the property for its current purpose, the A&BC is not just ensuring the future of precious work spaces, but preserving a dynamic community and cultural laboratory of artists and small business owners.

Jim Grace, Executive Director of the Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston, says, “There is a space crisis in the arts. Our Creative Campus initiative is a response to gentrification in Greater Boston and the resulting loss of affordable maker spaces for our creative communities. This purchase ensures that the artist space at Western Avenue | Studios & Lofts will remain affordable, community-based, and dedicated to creative businesses. The arts and culture sectors’ goals of greater diversity, equity, inclusion and access will never be fully realized without equitable inclusion and access to long-term, affordable, appropriate space for creatives. Preserving Western Avenue is an important step in creating momentum towards preserving other buildings like this across New England to address the space crisis in the arts. As we look to the future, we welcome other similar strategic partnerships and hope to continue this momentum of developing and preserving vibrant spaces for the creative community.”

“It was our hope that Western Avenue would be preserved by a mission-driven organization that would maintain the affordable spaces for artists and the creative community,” says Karl Frey. We are delighted to partner with the Arts & Business Council to make this a reality for many generations of artists in the future.”

State Senator Edward Kennedy, who represents the First Middlesex District including the City of Lowell, said, “The Western Avenue | Studios & Lofts space is a tremendous asset for both the City of Lowell and the large community of artists who utilize the space. The move to purchase Western Avenue by the Arts and Business Council of Greater Boston ensures the continued utilization of this creative space by our local artist community. Western Avenue Studios in Lowell represents the largest concentration of artists in the Commonwealth and I was happy to be able to ensure that Western Avenue Studios will be able to be properly maintained going forward.”

“We have a long history of supporting the arts and individual artists, and a future in which we also provide space and infrastructure for the arts in Greater Boston,” says Cheryl Tougias, Board Chair of Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston. “On behalf of the board, I would like to express our gratitude to WASL founders, Karl Frey and Patty Cullen, and to our staff, funders, and community partners in Lowell for the collaborative efforts that made this acquisition possible. We are thrilled to take stewardship of this important facility and to take its arts ecosystem into the future.”

Background of Western Avenue | Studios & Lofts
When real estate developer Karl Frey first toured Lowell and came to understand the importance of America’s first Urban National Park, he was drawn to the fabric of the city’s Industrial Revolution Mill infrastructure. That was back in 2004, and Frey quickly came to learn the strength of a good local government and preservationist attitude. With a developer’s optimism of what might be, he purchased the complex of light industrial space made up of five buildings on the Pawtucket Canal. What once was the Massachusetts Mohair Plush Company back in the early 1900’s became a new home for local artists and creative small businesses. By 2012, the entire complex was renovated into artist work only studios and artist live/work lofts. Now, the complex fulfills the space needs of 350 artists.

About Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston
The Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston (A&BC) empowers artists and organizations with the tools and services they need to grow their practices, gain influence, seek justice, and thrive.

A&BC believes deeply in the value of a thriving creative sector and the importance of investing in the creative workforce that powers it. From legal services and human resources support to real estate programs and creative placemaking, initiatives are aimed at maintaining and bolstering the vibrancy and diversity of the region.

The Creative Campus initiative is dedicated to developing and owning creative real estate projects by eliminating barriers for smaller organizations and individual artists to access safe, affordable, long-term, flexible space.

Volunteers Lawyers for the Arts of Massachusetts (VLA) has been dedicated to protecting the rights and creative works of artists and organizations through direct service, workshops, and legacy planning for more than 30 years.

Arts & Business Council’s professional development and capacity building programs are designed to provide essential training, practical frameworks, and direct coaching to artists, creative entrepreneurs, arts administrators, and executives interested in nonprofit board service. Workshops are steeped in a long history of successful programs, including the Business on Board program, the Artist Professional Toolbox program, the Walter Feldman Fellowship for Emerging Artists, and the Creative Entrepreneur Fellowship.

Artsandbusinesscouncil.org
facebook.com/ABCBoston
instagram.com/abcgreaterboston
twitter.com/abcboston